--- title: "Post-patch validation: review, setup & limitations · Undominated.ai" canonical: https://undominated.ai/skills/trailofbits-post-patch-validation/ description: "Requires a baseline-versus-patched evidence contract before a security fix is called done." --- # Post-patch validation: review, setup & limitations · Undominated.ai > Requires a baseline-versus-patched evidence contract before a security fix is called done. [← Explore all skills](/skills/) SECURITY REVIEW / Trail of Bits # Post-patch validation Requires a baseline-versus-patched evidence contract before a security fix is called done. [See setup guidance ↓](#setup)[Original source ↗](https://github.com/trailofbits/skills/tree/82fe8226252622fa807643bdca1710901198553a/plugins/post-patch-validation/skills/post-patch-validation) SOURCE REVIEW Reviewed 2026-10-14 Evidence 3 linked sources Publisher Trail of Bits Licence [CC-BY-SA-4.0 ↗](https://github.com/trailofbits/skills/blob/82fe8226252622fa807643bdca1710901198553a/LICENSE) Revision 82fe82262526 [Read what was—and wasn’t—checked ↓](#review) “Validates security patches with reproducible baseline-versus-patched evidence, including original exploits, root-cause variants, behavior preservation, regressions, and newly introduced security failures. Use after a patch exists and before accepting, merging, or reporting it as fixed; also use when an AI-generated patch, remediation commit, pull request, or proposed upstream fix needs adversarial post-patch validation across any language.” [Trail of Bits · upstream description ↗](https://github.com/trailofbits/skills/blob/82fe8226252622fa807643bdca1710901198553a/plugins/post-patch-validation/skills/post-patch-validation/SKILL.md) Our analysis follows below. 01 / THE REASONING ## Why this made the selection. - The description says to use it after a patch exists and before accepting it as fixed. - A heading names an Evidence Contract rather than a vibe check. ### A good fit for - Checking a proposed security fix against the original failure - Refusing a patch report that has no baseline - Compare an exploit assertion on vulnerable and patched revisions with evidence that it actually reached the check ### Weigh up before choosing - CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to adaptations you redistribute. - Running an exploit check requires authorisation for the target. This catalogue record is not that authorisation. - A nonzero process exit can be an import or build failure rather than reproduction. A complete run can still contain supported failures; incomplete evidence remains a gap. 02 / THE REVIEW RECORD ## What we actually inspected. Source review has boundaries. A clear record is more useful than a “safe” badge. ### Material inspected - plugins/post-patch-validation/skills/post-patch-validation/SKILL.md - README.md - LICENSE ### Our findings - Headings include When NOT to Use and Reading the result. - The description covers regressions and newly introduced failures, not only the original bug. - The definition documents side-blind checks, minimal environments, the stdout reach marker and distinct finding-versus-gap outcomes; the runner implementation was not newly inspected in this wave. - The definition specifies control, exploit, variant, behavior, regression, security and suite checks, and describes incomplete plans as validation failures. ### Not established by this review - The skill was not executed inside a host agent. The review applies to the material and revision named here. A newer upstream release can change its behavior. 03 / PUT IT TO WORK ## Add a skill to your workflow. [Upstream setup instructions ↗](https://github.com/trailofbits/skills/blob/82fe8226252622fa807643bdca1710901198553a/README.md) DOCUMENTED COMMAND /plugin marketplace add trailofbits/skills Copy command ↗ Copying does not execute this command. It may retrieve a newer version than the reviewed source. - In Claude Code, add the upstream marketplace, then use /plugin menu to select the post-patch-validation plugin. Adding a marketplace alone does not install a plugin. - The marketplace command follows upstream HEAD. To reproduce this review, obtain revision 82fe8226252622fa807643bdca1710901198553a and configure the complete checked-out plugin through the host’s local-plugin workflow. - Keep the whole plugin, including its references, scripts and named agents; inspect its tool access before an authorized task. ### Before you start - The complete post-patch-validation plugin, uv/Git, pinned base and patch inputs, and authorization to execute target code in an appropriate sandbox. ### Compatibility Claude Code plugin workflow · Other hosts require compatible plugin/tool support ### Local Markdown instructions - Read the installed skill files - Create temporary revision worktrees, build and execute authorized checks, write evidence and clean validator-owned scratch state. ### Cost model Source is free to read under the stated licence. A host agent may charge for use. 04 / FOLLOW THE EVIDENCE ## The source trail. Our notes are separate from the original resource. Check upstream before adopting a new version. - [Skill definition ↗](https://github.com/trailofbits/skills/blob/82fe8226252622fa807643bdca1710901198553a/plugins/post-patch-validation/skills/post-patch-validation/SKILL.md) Checked 2026-10-14 https://github.com/trailofbits/skills/blob/82fe8226252622fa807643bdca1710901198553a/plugins/post-patch-validation/skills/post-patch-validation/SKILL.md Supports: Workflow and stated scope - [Repository licence ↗](https://github.com/trailofbits/skills/blob/82fe8226252622fa807643bdca1710901198553a/LICENSE) Checked 2026-10-07 https://github.com/trailofbits/skills/blob/82fe8226252622fa807643bdca1710901198553a/LICENSE Supports: Redistribution terms - [Install instructions ↗](https://github.com/trailofbits/skills/blob/82fe8226252622fa807643bdca1710901198553a/README.md) Checked 2026-10-07 https://github.com/trailofbits/skills/blob/82fe8226252622fa807643bdca1710901198553a/README.md Supports: Documented install path KEEP COMPARING ## Other approaches to consider. Related by category or shared topics. These are alternatives to inspect, not a measured quality order. [### False Positive Check ↗ Forces a true-positive or false-positive verdict on one suspected bug, and refuses to be used as a bug hunter.](/skills/trailofbits-fp-check/)[### Algorand vulnerability scanner ↗ Pins Trail of Bits' Algorand scanner, which treats a short or empty coverage table as an unfinished scan and does not let a clean Tealer run stand in for patterns it never examined.](/skills/trailofbits-algorand-vulnerability-scanner/)[### CodeQL ↗ Drives a CodeQL scan and warns that each Bash call is a fresh shell, so state must be written to files.](/skills/trailofbits-codeql/) [AI Tools ↗](/tools/)[Skills ↗](/skills/)[Agents ↗](/agents/)[MCP Servers ↗](/mcp-servers/)[Workflows ↗](/workflows/) ## Continue your investigation - [Choose a toolkit](/tools/) - [Inspect execution hosts](/agents/) - [Check tool access](/mcp-servers/) - [Check project dependencies](/check-repo/)